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Cobb’s Georgia Legion Cavalry

Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this unit’s role at the Siege of Petersburg?  Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen.  We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.

Muster In: Organized in August 1861.1
Muster Out: April 26, 18652

Note: Cobb’s Georgia Legion was redesignated as the 9th Georgia Cavalry per Special Orders #161, issued on July 11, 1864.  However, it is unclear when or if this name took hold.  More research is necessary.3,4

Commander(s):
Colonel Gilbert J. Wright
Commander Image

Lieutenant Colonel Barrington S. King
Commander Image

Captain John H. Burr
Commander Image

Lieutenant Jefferson Bassett
Commander Image

Commander 5
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Hampton’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army5

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Hampton’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army6

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Hampton’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army7

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Gilbert J. Wright8
    • ? (when Wright was in Brigade command)9
  • Unit Strength: >313 officers and men PFD (July 20, 1864)10
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army11

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Gilbert J. Wright (at least August 26, 1864)12,13
    • ? (when Wright was in Brigade command)14
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army15,16

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Gilbert J. Wright (at least September 29, 1864)17
    • Captain John H. Burr (at least September 30, 1864)18,19
  • Unit Strength: 76 officers and men PFD (September 30, 1864)20
  • Weapons: Various Rifles (Springfield, Enfield, Spencer, ?, Maynard, Sharps, Burnside, Richmond)21

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army22

  • Commander: Colonel Gilbert J. Wright23
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army24,25

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant Colonel Barrington S. King (November 1864)26
    • Lieutenant Jefferson Bassett (December 1864)27
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Young’s Brigade | Butler’s Division | Cavalry Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army28

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: Butler’s Division was ordered to South Carolina on January 19, 1865.29

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle:

  • No longer present.

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles30:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Williamsburg Road (October 27, 1864)

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

    Sources:

    1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 165-167 ↩
    2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 165-167 ↩
    3. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 3 (Serial Number 82), page 763 ↩
    4. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 3 (Serial Number 82), pages 1170-1171 ↩
    5. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 113 ↩
    6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 113 ↩
    7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 122 ↩
    8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 122 ↩
    9. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 122 ↩
    10. “Letter from Cobb’s Legion of Cavalry.” Augusta Daily Constitutionalist. July 30, 1864, p. ? col. ?: “In my own regiment the loss has been heavy in proportion to the numbers engaged; as we had less than 250 effective men when the campaign opened…The total loss in the Legion has been 48 men; but we have now a larger effective force than at any time during the past two years, having received several new recruits in the past three weeks.”  “J.F.T.”, the author of the previous quote, mentions that the Cobb Legion Cavalry has more effectives on July 20, 1864 than the 250 they had at the start of the campaign.  Using Steven Newton’s formula to convert cavalry effectives into officers and men PFD (cavalry: (effectives/.85) * 1.065 = PFD), we get (250/.85) * 1.065= at least 313 officers and men present for duty.  As a result, the unit had at least 313 officers and men PFD on July 20, 1864. ↩
    11. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 132 ↩
    12. “Letter from Cobb’s Legion.” Augusta Daily Constitutionalist. August 31, 1864, p. ? col. ?: “Col. G. Wright, of Albany, Ga., is now in command.  Though never having received a military education, he has evidenced such a proficiency as an officer, that he has already risen from a 1st Lieutenant to that of a full Colonel.” ↩
    13. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 132 ↩
    14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 132 ↩
    15. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 140 ↩
    16. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1310. ↩
    17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 140 ↩
    18. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 140 ↩
    19. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-24: Young’s Cavalry Brigade, September 30, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    20. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-24: Young’s Cavalry Brigade, September 30, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    21. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-24: Young’s Cavalry Brigade, September 30, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 150 ↩
    23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 150 ↩
    24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 159 ↩
    25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 168 ↩
    26. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 159 ↩
    27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 168 ↩
    28. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 177 ↩
    29. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1101 ↩
    30. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 165-167 ↩

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